This one fell flat for me -- meandering plot, really obvious antagonist, just not my cup of tea. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read it.

This was a hard book to read for me. I didn't like the characters and while this isn't a deal breaker, in this case, it didn't work for me. I just didn't care and the book was long and confusing at times. It had some elements I liked and i did plug through it. I think others will enjoy the humorous style more than I did. I have heard her other books were better so will try this author again

What did I just read?! I LOVED this book! If you love books with lots of friendship drama and betrayals, you’ll love this one!

The premise was so unique. Suburban mom, Ellen Walsh, receives a mysterious threat letting her know that she will pay for what she’s done. Slowly the clues are revealed making for an explosive ending! Each section of the book was divided into her five bad deeds. This book had everything I love in a good thriller: short chapters, twists, suspense, multiple points of view, unreliable characters, suburbia trope, etc. definitely pick this one up when it comes out in December!

CAZ FREAR IS A LEGEND. I love her voice so much. It's hard to stand out in the thriller genre but the Cat Kinsella books and Five Bad Deeds have a spark that jumps off the page.

Five Bad Deeds is Ellen's story, told by Ellen, her sister, her daughter, and her two closest friends. The prologue kicks off with Ellen in jail for a serious crime and with no one by her side. Then we jump back a few months, when Ellen starts receiving anonymous threats that someone is going to ruin her life like she ruined theirs.

That sounds pretty standard, but what makes this unique is that 1) Ellen is dimensional- she has it all together except she's kind of a mess sometimes, plus she's self-aware and funny; and 2) Ellen has done 5 Bad Deeds - interspersed throughout in flashbacks- and one of them is the reason why her life is being ruined. I had no idea who villain was but I was having so much fun I didn't even try to guess lol.

This is already one of my favorite books of the year. I read this in like 2 days, which is very fast for me because I have young children who are determined to throw my Kindle in the bathtub. Thank you Caz Frear, Harper Paperbacks, and Netgalley for letting me read this early!

Welcome to Thames Lawley. “Feel safe! Be safe! Stay safe!”

Ellen Walsh is in jail. But how did she wind up here? She is a good wife and mother to teenage Orla and adorable toddler twins. She and her husband Adam just bought their dream house in posh Thames Lawley and are getting ready to do major renovations. But someone is out to get her. Who is setting her up and why? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Frear explores themes of alcoholism, infidelity, and revenge in this twisty domestic suspense thriller. Multiple suspects are considered, all harboring their own secret hatred towards Ellen. However, Ellen is hardly innocent. The slow burn suspense casts doubt on multiple suspects. Will you guess who is targeting Ellen before she does?

Unfortunately, I was able to correctly guess the bad girl/guy and the motive early on, despite the intentional distractions. Additionally, the constant shortening of the characters’ names is unnecessary and distracting. For example, “Ads” for Adam, “Jas” for Jason, and “LaLa” for Orla. Within this ARC, there is also some discrepancy as to Jason’s relationship to Gwen. This aspect is confusing, but hopefully will be reconciled by the publication date.

Five Bad Deeds will appeal to those who enjoy domestic suspense thrillers by Shari LaPena, Sally Hepworth, Jamie Day, and Melissa Adelman.

Overall, this book felt really long since I figured out the plot early on and tired of the very unlikeable characters. Since the ending is over the top and implausible, it didn’t win me over.

3.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 12/5/23

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper publishing for the ARC of Five Bad Deeds in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, Netgalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks, Harper Paperbacks for the copy of Five Bad Deeds by Caz Frear. It took me a long time to get into this book because the writing never grabbed me and it felt like the story didn't start for a long time. If you don't mind a slow start and a long story, but love a surprising end, this is the book for you. For me, it never really kept my interest.

Ellen Walsh has done something very, very bad. If only she knew what it was . . .

Teacher, mother, wife, and all-around good citizen Ellen is juggling nonstop commitments, from raising a teen and two toddlers to job-hunting to finally renovating her dream home, the Meadowhouse. Amidst the chaos, an ominous note arrives in the mail, declaring: People have to learn there are consequences, Ellen. And I’m going to teach you that lesson. Right under your nose.

I am a big fan of Frear's other work and was looking forward to reading this, but the plot felt a bit silly for me. It was a quick, easy, and fun read, but I just couldn't take the plot seriously.

The precis, and points in the book, gives the impression that Ellen has no idea what she's done, but there is also a ton of exposition and needless build up about Ellen knowing exactly what she has done. Every character in this was pretty insufferable, and the 'bad guy' became apparent about 60% of the way through,

Multiple POVs of the characters, and differing POVs when in that POV, made it hard to get into the story and stick with it. One last bone to pick - in chapter 34, Ellen says "When me and Gwen went out for a cigarette." I simply cannot believe that any respectable English teacher would use such improper grammar.

It’s not really a good sign if I have to immediately put a book down and come back to it later. I just couldn’t get into this group of people, so I read a couple other books then came back to this one.

The second time, I was just as confused. It took me over halfway through the book to understand why I was reading about these random people in the first place. There are multiple POVs, but the main character is Ellen - a mother of three who has just moved into their new house. She and her husband are planning renovations, but drama soon gets in the way.

Ellen gets a nasty letter one day, letting her know that someone is watching. Her “bad deeds” are catching up to her, but these are the most G-rated bad deeds in the history of thriller books. An offhand comment or two are not things I would consider would push someone to trying to ruin another person’s life, but here we are in this book.

Basically, the house that Ellen and her family just met has a lot of significance to the community, and one person in particular. Someone is jealous of their home, their money, and is getting revenge. Ellen hasn’t really committed any crimes though, so this was totally washed out and had a very random feel to it.

Towards the end, I started to get into the book a bit more, just because I was curious how it would end. I was surprised - but not in a good way. It was more of a “I just read over 300 pages for THAT?!” surprise. I found this very disorganized and cluttered with characters that weren’t necessary, and the plot’s premise was quite weak. This is listed as a mystery/thriller, but the only mystery was why I was supposed to care about any of the characters, and the thrill was finally ending it. This was just not the book for me. 2.5 stars.

(Thank you to Harper, Caz Frear, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

I was completely sucked into Five Bad Deeds by Cas Frear! Fast paced and breathtaking. Cannot recommend this enough as the perfect summer thriller read!

I wanted to love this...and I hated every single character. I do think that was the intention, but honestly these women (and men) made my skin crawl with every point of view.
I will continue to love Frear despite this stand alone.

Told in multiple POVs, this thriller of a novel is set in suburbia where the web of secrets is thick and sticky. Everywhere you turn someone is hiding something new. I loved this one quite a lot as we navigated throughout the lies and misgivings. Truly a great read.

five bad deeds is about a woman name ellen, who becomes the target of someone’s revenge mission… only she can’t figure out who is behind this or what she’s done. her 5 bad deeds that she’s committed are introduced sporadically throughout the story.

we have multiple narrators, so you get to hear the story from different points of view. i’m not sure what it was exactly that didn’t do it for me. I felt like it was a slow burn and it just didn’t grab my attention. it was an interesting plot, but I feel like it could have been executed better.

I was not a fan of the ending. when I found out the motive behind everything, I was disappointed. it just didn’t seem quite realistic to me between the motive and execution of things. and the fifth bad deed i’m not sure I even understood honestly.

thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was a fun one, centered on Ellen who seemingly has it all, but is being threatened by an unknown person for reasons unknown that lead you to believe she is hiding a lot more than she is sharing. The story is told I’m various POVs, from Ellen herself to her friends and family members.

Ellen is kind of a likable character, though the difference in situations told from both her perspective and others’ was really interesting to me; it was fascinating to see different interpretations of the same story. I didn’t think she was all that great of a wife, and her oldest child was a spoiled awful brat, but this all just made her seem like a real person. I liked how so many of the characters ended up being different from what I expected; some in a good way and others in a bad way. The mystery is sound, with a multitude of potential villains from which to choose. When the villain was exposed, I wish there had been more bread crumbs laid, though I thought the author did a great job of explaining how it all got to that point and I was able to recognize some subtle breadcrumbs from previous chapters. I do think the “5 bad deeds” theme was underdone, and had to separate myself from the title while reading. The ending was mostly satisfying to me, though I did walk away with a couple unanswered questions.

Overall, this was an engaging and enjoyable read. I haven’t read any other books by this author but would definitely pick one up, and would recommend this one to those who like domestic/psychological thrillers. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am familiar with Caz Frear through her Cat Kinsella series, so I was very excited to pick up an ARC of a standalone book! Five Bad Deeds was the ultimate story of revenge and just how far someone is willing to go to get what they want. All of the characters and storylines were flawlessly developed and came together perfectly by the end of the book -- you truly got a sense of each character's WHY. I also found myself rooting against the protagonist, which is truly the sign of a great writer!! Overall, an exceptional read for 2023!

Two words: addicting & twisted. This book had me all over the place trying to find the truth. I loved all the different character point of views that kept me guessing. Watch out for those wolves in sheep’s clothing in this book. Nobody is one hundred perfect pure but are you able to pick out the bad apples before they poison the whole bunch? In the end someone always has to pay. Thank you NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for this ARC!

Pub Date: December 5, 2023

This book was okay. It seemed very disjointed in the beginning and I had a hard time connecting the characters. Then it rushed to finish and the fifth “bad deed” was just very random?

You stone-cold had me at "Caz Frear". I love her series so much that I was a bit concerned that I didn't have the room or love in my heart for a standalone but again, I will never ever pass on one of her books.

And I am so happy to say that this was total corker too. Caz created entirely real characters with fantastic, realistic thoughts and dialogue and the tension built and built and built to a fantastic and spectacular conclusion.

I needn't have worried at all...

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

Thanks for the ARC NetGalley ❤️.

I have heard so many awesome things about Caz Frear and this lived up to all the hype. The alternating POV’s made the twists fit in flawlessly. I loved reading Ellen’s perspective and forming my own opinion of her, only to question it while reading other’s interpretations of the same actions.

The one thing I’m torn about is the affair. A part of me thinks, with all the focus on it during the book, that there should have been more resolution. But the other part of me loves how it wasn’t all wrapped up perfectly with a bow at the end. It was a fantastic roller coaster of a read! While this book starts out as a slow burn, it quickly picks up pace and hooks you in!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.75-3/5. This book was okay, but I think it dragged quite a bit. It was split up into “five bad deeds” but it was really just one long extended one lmao, and the last two were only one chapter each, while the first three were multiple chapters long. The book felt very long, but despite that, I didn’t really feel like I got enough pieces to put things together. I realized who was responsible due to the lack of information I was given about them in comparison to other characters, but that made it so that I couldn’t figure out why they were doing things, and it got monologue-explained within the span of a chapter. Knowing the why and the fallout is great, but it’s not particularly satisfying when it’s dumped on you in one chapter at the end of the book.

Also good lord, Orla. I know that she’s a moody teenager but I was so massively annoyed by her. A lot of the decisions from most of these characters were baffling to me, to be honest. People consistently took the weirdest and dumbest takes or made wildly bad decisions from small things - which can be very fun in other stories, but just felt very frustrating here. I was initially really into this book at first though, so I probably would read this author again, but it just didn’t hold me.